Gas generators or airbag inflators are well known for their utility in vehicle occupant protection systems. An ongoing concern for manufacturers of airbag inflators is to reduce their complexity and weight while maintaining the requisite operating characteristics. It would therefore be an improvement in the art to reduce the structural requirements typically attendant to airbag inflators thereby reducing the manufacturing complexity and cost.
In accordance with the present invention, a gas generator preferably contains a housing formed from welding a cap and a base in overlying relationship. Welding a first wall of the cap with an adjoining and substantially coextensive second wall of the base forms a structural girth and concentrically nests the first wall within the second wall. A gas generant is contained within the housing and produces gas upon combustion thereof. In one embodiment, an annulus or body bore is formed centrally within the cap thereby providing a seat for an igniter mount. An igniter mount is crimped or otherwise fixed within the annulus and is preferably laser welded thereto. An igniter is crimped or otherwise fixed within the igniter mount and is therefore suspended within the housing. Notably, in contrast to the conventional practice of incorporating a booster tube fixed to the base and the cap wherein the booster tube houses the igniter, in accordance with the present invention no other structural support is provided about the igniter. As such, the welding requirements and the manufacturing complexity of the inflator are correspondingly reduced.